Oscar writes: in France, I saw a group of White Storks by the side of the road. They were too far away for frame fillers, so instead I tried to show them in their environment.
Nikon D300s, Nikon 600mm AFS-II, Nikon 1.4x TC
Mark writes: in some parts of Europe the return of the White Stork is what signifies that spring really has arrived. There are a few (dodgy?) very old breeding records for the UK, but wouldn’t it be amazing if they arrived in this country and started nesting on roofs in Kent and Sussex?
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We had three on Somerset/Dorset border about 3 years ago so just had to make the 8 mile journey to see them,hope that does not make me a twitcher but when rare birds are so close we do seem to get pleasure from seeing them.
Didn’t a pair nest ( unsuccessfully) in Yorkshire a couple of years ago? Reported as first English nest for 400 years I believe.
In the Baltic States the White Storks are thriving and they have become a serious problem to the agricultural wildlife. When their breeding density is 25 pairs/100 km2 or more, then the storks eat everything that moves on the fields, from crickets to corn crakes and hare.
If the storks would have the courage to cross the English Channel (but they don’t), then your pheasant and grouse issues would get a brand new side to it.
TLN – welcome to this blog
TLN – welcome to this blog
Yet last week in another part of Europe (Malta), the unusual sight of a flock of white storks was greeted not with cameras but with guns – http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/37237/watch_cabs_release_video_of_white_stork_shooting
Not sure if this counts as true breeding.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/stunning_white_storks_ready_to_deliver_after_building_a_nest_in_a_norfolk_chimney_1_3511606
As a yank I was told the village of Storrington in West Sussex was once recorded in the doomsday book as place of breeding White Storks (guess where I live) or are the yocals pulling my “plonker”….whatever that is.
Did you hear about the White Stork that was found shot dead on the Egypt border and had been accused of spying!!!! I kid you not.